http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1960253,00.html By Sandra Laville and Owen Gibson November 30, 2006 The Guardian When Clive Goodman tapped into the mobile phone messaging services of Prince William's closest aides he was laying a trail that led police straight back to his own phone. It was this particular lack of guile that surprised investigating officers and allowed them to build a criminal case around a practice they had long suspected some journalists of using to get their scoops. Goodman was caught telephoning the mobile phones of senior figures within the Prince of Wales's household. After ensuring the mobiles were switched off, he would wait for the message contained on every phone asking the caller to leave a message after the tone. At some point during this message Goodman would punch in the code programmed as the security number in most mobile phones- 4444, or any similar repetition of a digit - and gain instant access to messages in the personal mailbox. Because most people forget to change the security code in place when they buy the phone, the method worked beautifully for Goodman. What astonished many newspaper colleagues was that Goodman, a veteran tabloid reporter, had risked so much for stories which were, in the end, so minor. It was when these tales, which involved Prince William, appeared in Goodman's Blackadder diary column in the News of the World that aides to the prince and his father began to get suspicious. The first item was an article on November 6 last year stating that Prince William had consulted doctors about a pulled tendon in his knee. It went on to say the injury had forced the prince to postpone a mountain rescue course. So few people were aware of his doctor's appointment that the prince was puzzled as to how it had been discovered. A week later the diary ran another article, stating that Tom Bradby, ITV's former royal correspondent, and a man known to have built a good relationship with the prince, had lent him some broadcasting equipment. Another clue to aides was that the piece appeared a week before Bradby was due to meet William. Mr Bradby said when they eventually met William said he was concerned about how the information had been leaked. "We worked out that only he and I and two people incredibly close to him had actually known about it," said Mr Bradby, who is now political editor for ITN. Among the prince's entourage is a Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, an ex-SAS officer with experience in detecting far more sophisticated techniques than adopted by Goodman. He quickly spotted how the tapping was being carried out and the prince's staff contacted police. The inquiry was handed to the counter-terrorism branch of Scotland Yard. The investigation found that among those targeted were David Blunkett, while he was home secretary, the government minister David Miliband, the England and Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell, the editor of the Sun, Rebekah Wade, the Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, the supermodel Elle Macpherson, and the publicist Max Clifford. Most had no idea about the tapping. Goodman used a private investigator for much of the work. Glenn Mulcaire, 35, a former Wimbledon footballer, invoiced the reporter for the work he did, without specifying the nature of it. Fourteen other charges were left on the file, involving the alleged phone-tapping of Mr Lowther-Pinkerton, Helen Asprey, the Prince of Wales's aide, and Paddy Harveson, his communications secretary. Scotland Yard is not pursuing the cases. Goodman, who has been suspended by the News of the World, apologised in court to the three members of the royal household staff concerned and their principals, princes William, Harry and Charles. Andy Coulson, the paper's editor, said: "The News of the World will ... be making a substantial donation to charities of the Princes' choice." The targets Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince of Wales and their staff Prince William's suspicions were first roused when a diary item appeared in Goodman's Blackadder column in the News of the World revealing he had consulted doctors about a pulled tendon in his knee. A second article claimed that Tom Bradby, now ITV's political editor, had lent William some broadcasting equipment - a fact only known to the pair of them and two of the prince's closest aides. Max Clifford The publicist fell out with News of the World editor Andy Coulson 18 months ago over a story about his client Kerry Katona. The pair have been engaged in a bitter dispute since. Clifford, who once provided a steady stream of scoops to the NoW, said he was notified by his service provider of "irregular patterns" in accessing his mobile phone. Skylet Andrew High profile football agent, also known as Sky Andrew, whose association with Sol Campbell, former Arsenal and England defender who now plays for Portsmouth, is likely to have led to him being targeted by Mulcaire. Gordon Taylor The outspoken chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, he often takes personal calls from players in newsworthy situations. Simon Hughes MP At the height of the Liberal Democrat leadership race, Simon Hughes gave an interview to the Sun in which he said he was gay, a week after claiming he wasn't. Mulcaire was most likely trying to access his voicemail for incriminating messages. Elle Macpherson The Australian supermodel, known throughout tabloid-land as "The Body", recently split from her long-term partner Arpad Busson and has been linked with a string of new partners since - including Sol Campbell. Explainer Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to conspiracy to intercept communications without lawful authority, under the Criminal Law Act 1977. Mulcaire also pleaded guilty to a further five counts of unlawful interception of communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000, a more recent law brought in to recognise technological advances in telephony and the internet. It was controversial at the time, with civil rights campaigners complaining it gave police and security services undue leeway while not doing enough to protect the privacy of individuals. Offences under both acts can be punishable with prison. Several other charges involving both men were left on file. "There is a real risk of Mr Goodman going to prison, in order to deter tabloid newspapers, and all who assist them, from this gross invasion of privacy," said Louise Delahunty, a partner in the litigation department at the law firm Simmons & Simmons. "The court will want to show that the anti-bugging law, RIPA, has teeth." Bugging and phone-tapping are also forbidden under the self-regulatory Press Complaints Commission code of practice, unless it can be shown to be in the public interest. "It is a totally unacceptable practice unless there is a compelling public interest reason for carrying it out," said the PCC chairman, Sir Christopher Meyer, yesterday. _____________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Wed Nov 29 2006 - 23:14:56 PST